I spent some time in the Christchurch CBD in New Zealand, and it was fascinating to see how the city is coming alive again with new buildings, cool architecture, street art. There’s so many reminders of the catastrophic earthquake in February 2011: gutted buildings, uninhabitable. Empty vacant blocks of land. Construction underway. Whenever I visit a city, no matter where in the world, I look for quirky art, interesting lines and curves, and light. I particularly loved the bright and cheery Turanga Library, gorgeous lighting, staircases, and books, and it looked to be a hit among locals and visitors alike.
STREET - exploring Christchurch city
China
1.357 billion people, a mix of old-style family life sitting on the footpath, cooking dinner in a dented pot over an open fire, hip rooftop bars overlooking city highrises, smartly dressed ladies with face masks riding mopeds, organised traffic chaos, elderly people practising tai chi, ballroom dancing, spinning, and mah jongg in the parks....China is a visual and sensory delight!
So much construction going on: roads, bridges, buildings......cranes everywhere, people being 're-located' to build dams and flood historic villages, the Chinese love seeing their own country and crowd iconic locations such as Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors.
